Turkey's ruling party calls Kashoggi's death 'murder'

By Can Erozden

ANKARA

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party on Monday called Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi's death a "violently planned, complicated murder".

Speaking at the party headquarters, spokesman Omer Celik said: "Jamal Khashoggi's killing is a violently planned and a very complicated murder, which was being covered up.

"I hope those responsible for Khashoggi's killing are punished and no one ever thinks of repeating this."

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, had gone missing since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After days of denying to know his whereabouts, Saudi Arabia on Saturday claimed Khashoggi died during a fight inside the consulate.

On the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance, 15 other Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the consulate while he was still inside, according to Turkish police sources. All of the identified individuals have since left Turkey.

A joint Turkish-Saudi team completed an investigation into the case on Thursday after searching the residence of the consul general as well as the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.